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Yuuko Yoshikawa
is a character in the Hibike! Euphonium series. She is a second year student who plays the trumpet. Appearance Yuuko is a teenage girl that looks younger than she actually is with shoulder-length dirty blond hair that has evenly cut bangs, light bluish-green eyes and a pale yellow bow headband. She wears the standard Kitauji High School uniform. Personality Yuuko is a nice, friendly and cheerful person who is also shown to have confidence, determination and a strong personality. She can openly and confidently show others what she is thinking through her actions, her facial expression, and her words. However, Yuuko is also an emotional person as she can easily get annoyed or angered when something didn't go in the way she wants it to. Yuuko does acknowledges these flaws of her and tries to improve herself and gets over her own pride for the success of the band. By nature, Yuuko will put great importance on the people she cares about that she will do anything she can to ensure their happiness and well-being. Sometimes, this leads her to make some mistakes but other times it elicits very noble actions from her. On the opposite, Yuuko behaves acerbically towards individuals she dislikes or someone she perceives as a threat to her cherished friends. Chronology Season 1 *'Episode 2-4' Yuuko is introduced as a second year trumpet player who shows a great amount of admiration for Kaori Nakaseko (Yuuko's section senior) as she pounces on every possible opportunity to walk home with Kaori. Also, Yuuko is shown to dislike Reina Kousaka from as early on as when Reina plays her trumpet for the first time, probably due to the fact that Reina can play better than Kaori. *'Episode 5' At the Sunrise Festival, Yuuko (along with most band members) feels nervous after she witnesses Rikka High School's performance. Kaori Nakaseko sees this and tells her to take a deep breath. When Reina suddenly blows her trumpet as an attempt to calm everyone down, Yuuko tells Reina that they are not allowed to make noise while waiting for their turn. Reina says "Sorry" and brushes her hair in response. When Kitauji High School Concert Band's turn comes, Yuuko and other band members perform what they have been practicing and manages to surprise the audiences/observers. *'Episode 7' Everyone is preparing for the incoming audition to select a member for competition team, one day after the practice ends, Yuuko asks Kaori Nakaseko to go home with her, but before Kaori can answer, they hear Reina Kousaka play the trumpet solo part of Crescent Moon Dance Yuuko talks to Kaori about why Reina would practice that part when the band already has Kaori for the solo. Kaori tells her that it's okay since there is no rule that prevents the first years from practicing that part and asks Yuuko whether she has been ignoring Reina or being mean to Reina. Yuuko answers no and tells Reina to clean up since practice is over. Later, Yuuko is shown to have a little fight with Natsuki Nakagawa as Yuuko tries to leave the room. Seeing this, Riko tells Kumiko Oumae that Natsuki and Yuuko don't really get along. *'Episode 8' On the festival day, when the practice ends, Yuuko tries to invite Mizore Yoroizuka to go the festival with her but Mizore refuses her offer so Yuuko decides to go to the festival with Natsuki Nakagawa and Tomoe Kabe instead. *'Episode 9' Yuuko passes the audition but is shocked after learning that Reina Kousaka will get to play the solo part instead of the crowd favorite Kaori Nakaseko. *'Episode 10' Yuuko hears the rumor about Noboru Taki knowing Reina Kousaka long before she enrolled at Kitauji High School Concert Band's and Taki-sensei might be biased toward Reina which might explain why Kaori Nakaseko doesn't get to play the solo part. Even though Kaori tells Yuuko to discard that rumor, Yuuko decides to ask Taki-sensei about it in front of all band members. Taki-sensei tells her that he evaluates everyone equally but he confesses that he has known Reina since middle school since he is a friend with her father. When Yuuko tries to ask something more, Reina interrupts their conversation and tells Yuko to stop insulting Taki-sensei. Reina says that she got selected because she is better than Kaori. Reina's words greatly enrage Yuuko, leading her to yell at Reina. Kaori manages to stop the fight before things get worse. Yuuko's action causes an uncomfortable/uneasy atmosphere in the band in the following days and everyone starts to lose their motivation for the competition. Taki-sensei decides to fix this problem by presenting all band members the chance for a re-audition. Kaori grabs this chance and asks for re-audition. *'Episode 11' Yuuko eavesdrops on Reina Kousaka's play. When Yuuko sees Kumiko Oumae inviting Reina out for lunch, she asks Kumiko's opinion on Reina's play. Kumiko replies that Reina sounds very good and deserves to play solo. Yuuko agrees with Kumiko and says that it is unfair that the first year can play that good, before walking away. Later, Natsuki Nakagawa tells Yuuko that this situation will only hurt Kaori Nakaseko which makes Yuuko falls deeper into the sadness. Then, Yuuko bows to Reina and asks Reina to purposely drop the audition. Yuuko explains that in the previous years Kaori didn't get to play a solo part because of the seniority system and this year will be Kaori's last chance to play solo. She also tells Reina that Kaori also tried to resign from the competition in order to stop the first-year members from quitting the band. However, Reina doesn't care about any of this as it doesn't have anything to do about her and walks away. On the day of re-audition, after Kaori and Reina finish their performance, and the band starts voting, it turns out that only Yuuko and Haruka Ogasawara clap for Kaori while only Kumiko and Hazuki Katou clap for Reina. Taki-sensei then asks Kaori "Will you play the solo part?" Kaori, knowing that Reina is better than her, declines his offer and says that Reina should be the one to play solo part. Upon hearing this, Yuuko finally breaks down and cries out loud. *'Episode 12' On the morning of one day, Yuuko and Kaori Nakaseko greet Reina Kousaka, who apologizes for her behavior during the audition and Kaori also apologizes to Reina. Yuuko is surprised by Kaori's action. During this time, Natsuki sneaks behind Yuuko and surprises her. *'Episode 13' Natsuki Nakagawa gives Yuuko a big lucky charm as her "love through harassment". Later, when Kitauji High School Concert Band is waiting for their turn to play, Yuuko stands behind Mizore Yoroizuka. Yuuko performs along with other band members in the competition. When Yuuko finds out that Kitauji gets gold and will proceed to the Kansai competition, she is very happy like everyone else. Season 2 *'Episode 1' Yuuko comes to school early for morning practice with Mizore Yoroizuka. One day, Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka walk in while she is talking with Mizore and Mizore suddenly asks Yuuko about her relationship with them which leads to a very awkward situation. Yuuko later tells Mizore that Nozomi Kasaki wants to rejoin the band. *'Episode 2' Yuuko goes to the pool with Tomoe Kabe and she has a little fight with Natsuki Nakagawa about the T-shirt that both of them are wearing. Later, she learns from Natsuki that Nozomi is also at the pool. *'Episode 3' Yuuko catches Kumiko Oumae eavesdropping her conversation with Natsuki Nakagawa and invites Kumiko for a chat with her. They talk about the situation between Nozomi Kasaki and Mizore Yoroizuka and what they think about the competition. Yuuko indirectly admits to Kumiko that Reina Kousaka should be the one to play the solo and says that they should aim to get gold in the competition. *'Episode 4' When Mizore Yoroizuka runs away from Nozomi Kasaki, Yuuko prevents Nozomi from going after her and asks Kumiko Oumae to help her looking for Mizore. Later, Yuuko finds Mizore hiding behind a table and confronts her about issues regarding Nozomi. Yuuko cries with Mizore over the misunderstood relationships both of them had and watches Mizore reconcile with Nozomi. Later, Natsuki Nakagawa teases Yuuko, but also praises her for helping Mizore. Yuuko teases Natsuki back and runs away, with Natsuki close behind. *'Episode 5' When Kitauji High School Concert Band is waiting for their turn to perform, Yuuko encourages Kaori Nakaseko that their band's journey will not end here and everyone will go to the nationals together. Yuuko then points up her finger as a "let's go to the nationals" symbol and everyone around follows her lead. Later, Yuuko cries out tears of happiness when Kitauji gets gold and gets to go to the nationals. *'Episode 6' During the school festival, Yuuko visits the joint cafe between class 2-2 and class 2-3 and orders a cake to eat. However, Natsuki Nakagawa, who works as a maid, gives her a very tall cake as a prank. Yuuko sees this as a challenge by Natsuki and ends up finishing the entire cake. *'Episode 7' Yuuko acts as the voice of the band and asks Taki-sensei about Asuka Tanaka's issue. Later, when Haruka Ogasawara finishes her speech, she tells Haruka that everyone in the band will stand by her. Natsuki Nakagawa uses this chance to make fun of Yuuko about her and Kaori Nakaseko's relationship. Their little quarrel ends up lighting the mood for everyone. *'Episode 11' Yuuko notices that Reina Kousaka is troubled by something as she plays her trumpet worse than usual. Later, while Reina is practicing her solo part outdoors, Yuuko approaches Reina and says that she can talk to her about the problem she is facing if she wants. Reina is thankful by Yuuko's offer to help and promises that she will get on track soon and continues to practice. Yuuko listens to Reina's solo with a smile on her face. *'Episode 12' During the award ceremony for conductors, Yuuko and Kaori Nakaseko thanks Reina Kousaka for cheering for Taki-sensei on behave of the band. After Kitauji High School Concert Band learns that they get bronze, Yuuko tells Reina that they are going to get gold next year. Later, Yuuko comforts Reina after Taki-sensei denies her love confession. *'Episode 13' Yuuko becomes the band president after Haruka Ogasawara and the other third years retire from the band. She and the remaining members host the farewell party for third years. On the third year's graduation day, Yuuko is seen hugging and burying her face on Kaori Nakaseko's chest while holding Kaori's ribbon in her hand. Kaori tells Yuuko to be strong as she is now the president. *'Season 2 Special 1' While Yuuko, Natsuki Nakagawa and Riko Nagase are hanging out at the summer festival, she and Natsuki try to encourage Riko to share a kiss with Takuya Gotou. Later, they mistakenly see that Goto is about to kiss a woman other then Riko, (who is in fact, his sister) and go to beat him up. Trivia * The name Yuuko 'means "excellence, superiority, gentleness" (優), "distant, leisurely" (悠) or "abundant" (裕) ('yuu) and "child" (子) (ko). * Yuuko's surname Yoshikawa '''means "lucky, good" (吉) ('''yoshi) and "river, stream" (川) (kawa). * Yuuko resembles Ai Shindou from the Kyoukai no Kanata series, which is also animated by Kyoto Animation. ** They also share the same voice actor. * Yuuko, Natsuki Nakagawa, Nozomi Kasaki and Mizore Yoroizuka graduated from Minami Junior High School. *Yuuko's height is actually at average compared to other characters in the anime. The reason she looks small is that she is usually seen standing next to Kaori Nakaseko who is quite tall. * Yuuko was one of try-hard band members who didn't quit the band last year. *According to the official [https://tkj.jp/info/euphonium/ Sound! Euphonium novel website]: **Her favorite colors are yellow and pink. *Character Designer Shoko Ikeda said in the interview that she designed Yuuko as someone who is very cute. *Yuuko's trumpet model is a YAMAHA YTR-850S. Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Supporting Characters Category:Trumpeters Category:Minami Alumni Category:Kitauji High School Category:Concert Band Members Category:Third Years Category:Brass Players